20/7/1964
Record updated 20-Jul-06
Having raced unsuccessfully in F1 he turned to touring cars winning his first DTM title in 1995. He won the FIA GT title in 1997 returning to DTM in 2000, winning the title that year as well as in 2001 and 2003.
Born in St. Ingbert, Schneider was named after legendary driver Bernd Rosemeyer, winner of the 1936 European Championship. Introduced to kart racing at an early age, he displayed an obvious talent for racing. After several years in the junior kart series, He won the German Junior Kart Champion at the age of 15. The following year (1980) he repeated the achievement and won the World Junior Kart title as well. Two years later he won the European Formula A title.
The next few years, Schneider would race in the various Formula Ford series in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. In 1986, he joined the German Formula Three circuit, winning the title the following year in 1987. This brought him to the attention of Erich Zakowski, who signed Schneider to drive for his Formula One team Zakspeed in 1988 and 1989. However, the small, German-based squad did little to make an impression on the F1 circuit, with Schneider only able to qualify for 9 races. Schneider also briefly drove for Arrows, before racing Porsche sports cars in the early 1990s.
In 1992, Schneider moved to the DTM (German Touring Car Championship), driving for AMG Mercedes. Finishing third his first season, he has since been a regular Mercedes driver. In 1995, he won his first DTM championship, piloting an AMG C-Class. In the years of the DTM's absence, Schneider raced Mercedes cars in the FIA GT series, winning the title in 1997.
When the DTM returned in 2000 with V-8 engines, Schneider took the championship crown three of the first four years (2000, 2001, and 2003) in an AMG CLK-Class; he was runner up in 2002. Still driving the AMG, Schneider has won a record 4 championships.
Schneider now lives in Monte Carlo with wife Nicole and their children Lisa-Marie and Luca Maximilian. Schneider still enjoys karting; when not behind the wheel, his hobbies include golf, squash, billiards, and tennis.